Sourdough Adventures

Who is surprised I never got into sourdough? Me! I have no excuses. I honestly don’t even remember what inspired me to try. Perhaps it was a random Facebook suggested group post that said something like whole wheat flour is better for sourdough starter than all purpose or bread flour. Maybe it was because I read through the Little House on the Prairie books again where they lived off ground whole wheat during The Long Winter.

We all know that I have plenty of whole wheat. All I had to do was grind it into flour, get a starter going, and get to baking! Which is what I did with all my extra summer vacation time.

Once upon a time I tried making a starter using my Betty Crocker Cookbook for instructions.  I obviously didn’t understand the instructions because my starter was yuck.  This time, I fed and discarded according to instructions I found online and I created a beautiful set of starter jars. The hardest part of establishing a good starter was all the discarded starter. So of course I started baking up a bunch of snacks that used discard and a little bit of leavening. 

I made crackers, pancakes, waffles, pizza crust, and whole wheat bread. I have not made an artisan loaf that has risen with just the power of my naturally occurring yeast beasts. I did however use my Nana’s vintage Bosch mixer because my Kitchen Aid bread hook is missing! A vintage mixer in a vintage kitchen. 

What I learned about myself is this: I am not at all interested in making true sourdough bread that rises without added yeast. To get those crunchy farmers market loaves, one must have a two day timeline of mixing, stretching, folding, and rising, but watching carefully so it doesn’t over rise and stretch the gluten too much. They are baked at high temperatures in Dutch ovens or on baking stones with added steam to get that crunchy thin flexible crust. I’ve seen too many pictures of broken stoneware from people following instructions and adding ice cubes to create the steam and little bubbles. And too many pictures of failed loaves.

Turns out I love discard baking! I love using my whole wheat flour and my old yeast and things that are done in a few hours. There’s no guarantee that a project I start today will be interesting tomorrow! I could be wanting to sew…

School's End 2022-2023

I never did get around to posting our curriculum choices at the beginning of the school year.  I guess it might be a good idea to post not what we plan to do, but what we actually did.  

This year was our transition year back into what our life resembled before the shut down.  With three of the eight kids basically adults and doing their own things, I had an easier time getting things done.

Jason is a July birthday and is young for second grade.  He finished up his first grade work from Memoria Press and started the second grade level. He sped through Math U See Beta (he's really good at math). He took PE, Lego Club, Arts and Crafts, and Chess at co-op (he's really good at chess). He also started Taekwondo with Mark at his school's new location at Gig Harbor Strength and Fitness (he's really good at taekwondo).  His favorite part of the school year was reading and math. His least favorites are cursive and spelling.

Heidi joined orchestra and plays cello. She also joined Taekwondo! She is a quick-witted girl and had no trouble with the third grade level of Memoria Press and MUS Gamma.  She took the same classes as Jason at co-op. Heidi's favorites are reading, spelling, and cursive.  I thought she hated cursive because she certainly complained about it enough. Her least favorite was grammar.  She is so incredibly smart but is also very active and has all the classic demand avoidance and hyperfocus issues kids with ADHD have.  I am so glad I can homeschool her and help guild her through her difficulties (like needing to finish playing the Jaws theme at orchestra when she was supposed to be playing with her class). Gentle gentle parenting. 

Lula is in her second year of violin and loves her group.  She hand sews or crochets birthday presents for everyone who has a birthday.  She earned her senior green belt in Taekwondo! And she took Recorder, Cooking, and Chess at co-op along with Memoria Press 5th grade and MUS Epsilon.  She struggles with remembering things and may have inattentive ADHD to balance out Heidi's insane level of activity with hers. Funny how ADHD can be completely opposite in two different people.  She has the biggest heart I have ever known. Lula's favorite subjects are reading and science.  She doesn't like Latin or composition.

Daniel and Fiona stayed together for one more year in their curriculum, using Memoria Press 7th grade.  Daniel finally caught up to Fiona in math at the end of this year, which has inspired Fiona to want to start Algebra 1 this summer.  They both continued their orchestra journeys, but are in two different groups with Fiona promoting to the high school group.  Daniel took cooking and a strategic games class.  Fiona took cooking, painting, and a class about the constitution. 

Daniel is a very good student.  He is self motivated to get his schoolwork done every morning so he can move on and do other things he enjoys more (video games). I'm impressed with his ability to get through things.  His favorite subject is history. And he is my only kid to go as far as he has in Latin. Now that he is 13 years old, he is no longer the terror he was as a preschooler. He uses his incredible mind to try to use logic against me, forcing me to use the old "Because I said so!" and lose the argument in his mind.  But I want him as my ally in this crazy world we are in.

A special mention here about Fiona's education: She earned her black belt! And she is an incredible artist.  Her drawings of people are amazing.  I wish there was someone local that could mentor her, but there isn't, so we will have to wait until college to see how far she can take her talents.  Until then, YouTube!  She is the most "socialized" of all my homeschoolers with a big friend group and plenty of drama to go around.  I love it.

Genna, oh Genna.  She is so amazing and has such a unique high school experience.  At the end of the school year last year, I told Mark I would no longer homeschool her.  It was up to him to come up with curriculum and enforce it or put her in public school.  She is not an angry defiant teenager.  She is just focused on vaulting or working to make money for vaulting and doesn't do her schoolwork.  She is 100% within the legal definition of homeschooling still, but really only did one semester of chemistry this year.  She had an almost perfect score too.  But does she have the equivalent of a public high school education? No.  Could she walk into a testing office and get a GED or get placed into college level classes at community college? Yes. The opportunity to represent the USA as an athlete doesn't come around very often, so we must embrace this journey and let happen what will happen.  And I have been much happier about her education putting it in her hands.

Shane will be done with his Associate's degree at the end of summer quarter.  Ian got a later start due to covid, and then he changed his focus from business to biology, so he is going to graduate fall or winter depending on what summer courses he takes.  

All that is left is our annual standardized tests!